#Repost@natgeo (@get_repost)
・・・@natgeo@stevewinterphoto
Here is a bobcat overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.
An outtake from my cougar story. Before setting up in Griffith Park in LA and getting the Hollywood Cougar - I had cameras above the Golden Gate Bridge on a ridge line in Marin County overlooking San Francisco.
Though there were signs of a cougar - I never got an image of one - so I moved the cameras to LA.
As we branch out of our cities looking for new homes we move into the homes of animals. We do live with wildlife in our everyday lives, including small and larger predators. As with the cougars of the Santa Monica Rec Area - our largest Urban Park north of LA - there has never been a attack by a cougar on humans. We have not been apart of predators “image search” for food for millennium. We are upright walking on 2 legs with forward facing eyes. And we do not taste good! We use shampoos, deodorants, toothpaste, perfumes, we ingest chemicals in our everyday lives - we stink. So lets all live together. We have found ways to do this with local indigenous people in remote areas where they have livestock - which might require predator proof corrals to protect their livestock while keeping intact the local ecosystem.

The Cheetah is the fastest land animal on earth and Africa’s most endangered cat. Cheetahs purr like house cats - which is one reason they are under threat, as the cubs are either captured or raised in captivity to be sold as pets to the very wealthy, though only one in six survive the journey to their new prison.

As with all big cats the number one reason for their decline is habitat loss, then comes human wildlife conflict where livestock owners kill predators in revenge killings if the predator kills their livestock. Finally comes the illegal wildlife trade, the pet trade is hitting cheetahs hard as is the trade in their skins and bones.

New research led by Sarah Durant and colleagues suggests there may be as few as ~7100 cheetahs left in Africa, and that if their populations are to survive, they need good protection inside national parks to offset losses in community areas where they clash with farmers!

This is a similar emotion that we as humans feel. Our animal family is so much like us - they find mates, they have kids, they have to feed themselves and their families,
they feed themselves and their families in the same way we as humans used to! If we can find a way to believe they think, feel and have emotions, maybe we can treat them better and find a way to ensure their future on this planet. They are keystone species in their ecosystems, though we as humans are not.
National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative is working towards the conservation of African lions, leopards and cheetahs across Africa. Increasing anti-poaching efforts, installing protective bomas to stop conflict between big cats and livestock and they even monitor big cats numbers with camera traps. Visit https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/big-cats-initiative/ to find out how you can help save big cats today, and remember by saving apex predators we keep ecosystems balanced and healthy!

Spectacular photo by @stevewinterphoto
・・・@stevewinterphoto@natgeo Nature is perfection. It gives us the air we breathe and the water we need for all life.
I am working on a @natgeo Jaguar story. Here is Scarface running after a caiman which he did not get this time. Jaguars are the 3rd largest of the big cats. Found from US / Mexico border to northern Argentina. Jaguars have rebounded in this area where 95% of the land is privately owned. In the past many ranchers would kill the cats when they ate their cattle. Today in this area tourism brings in much more money to the local economy than cattle ranching. So the jaguar population is increasing. But revenge killings of jaguars happen close to this area and all throughout the jaguars range. Also poaching for skins, bones and teeth is growing for the first time since the 1970’s to feed the demand for Asian Traditional Medicine and luxury items from endangered species. “When the buying stops, the killing can too.” @wildaid@bertiegregory

My first story with big cats was the 1st @natgeo Jaguar story 20 years ago! It has changed my life working with the magical and magnificent cats of the world. Animals have emotions just like we have.

Forests provide us with up to 50% of the oxygen we breathe - oceans the rest. They give us 75% of the fresh water.
If we can save the forest of the Amazon and other areas in Central and South America for the JAGUAR and Puma. The forests of Central Africa for the leopard, lion, elephants etc. And the forests of South Asia for the Tigers and Leopards. If you save the top predator in any ecosystem you save everything that lives with them.
So if - We Save Big Cats we can help Save Ourselves. Please visit CauseAnUproar.org to find out other ways to become involved to save big cats!

@stevewinterphoto@natgeo Nature is perfection. It gives us the air we breathe and the water we need for all life.
I am working on a @natgeo Jaguar story. Here is Scarface running after a caiman which he did not get this time. Jaguars are the 3rd largest of the big cats. Found from US / Mexico border to northern Argentina. Jaguars have rebounded in this area where 95% of the land is privately owned. In the past many ranchers would kill the cats when they ate their cattle. Today in this area tourism brings in much more money to the local economy than cattle ranching. So the jaguar population is increasing. But revenge killings of jaguars happen close to this area and all throughout the jaguars range. Also poaching for skins, bones and teeth is growing for the first time since the 1970’s to feed the demand for Asian Traditional Medicine and luxury items from endangered species. “When the buying stops, the killing can too.” @wildaid@bertiegregory

My first story with big cats was the 1st @natgeo Jaguar story 20 years ago! It has changed my life working with the magical and magnificent cats of the world. Animals have emotions just like we have.

Forests provide us with up to 50% of the oxygen we breathe - oceans the rest. They give us 75% of the fresh water.
If we can save the forest of the Amazon and other areas in Central and South America for the JAGUAR and Puma. The forests of Central Africa for the leopard, lion, elephants etc. And the forests of South Asia for the Tigers and Leopards. If you save the top predator in any ecosystem you save everything that lives with them.
So if - We Save Big Cats we can help Save Ourselves. Please visit CauseAnUproar.org to find out other ways to become involved to save big cats!